


Fitting Together

by haldoor



Series: Parental Involvement [14]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Heart-to-Heart, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 11:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haldoor/pseuds/haldoor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Warnings/Spoilers:</b> None for the show<br/><b>Disclaimer:</b> No ownership; no profit<br/><b>Beta:</b> Ran it past <span class="ljuser i-ljuser"></span><a href="http://kaige68.livejournal.com/profile"><img class="i-ljuser-userhead"/></a><a class="i-ljuser-username" href="http://kaige68.livejournal.com/"></a><b>kaige68</b> but all mistakes are my own<br/><b>Summary:</b> Steve and Catherine have a proper heart-to-heart<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Fitting Together

**Author's Note:**

> This is Part 14 of the **Parental Involvement** series about Steve coming to terms with the fact he never told his father about his sexuality. There is some comparing of his uneasy relationship with his father to his current relationship with his mother after her twenty-year absence. This part takes place a day or so after Part 12, **Seeking Help** , time-wise

"I'm so sorry for… everything."

Steve sat next to Catherine on the bench, looking out to sea as he drew in a breath and tried to recall the words he'd rehearsed so carefully earlier in the day.

Cath turned towards him, her brows in a worried line. "I shouldn't have let it get out of hand, Steve, but… your mother can be quite persuasive."

Steve smiled thinly, taking her hand and studying the slim fingers within his own larger ones. "Don't I know it? The thing is… it's my fault for leading you on. I… after Freddie…" he huffed, the practiced words spinning away into space. "You were there for me, and I… took advantage."

"It wouldn't have happened if I didn't want it to."

"But I should have been man enough to deal with it on my own. Not let you think…" Steve stopped, looking away and blinking hard. "I've made a mess of everything."

"It's not going to happen the way Doris wants, is it?" Cath sounded resigned, but she squeezed his hand lightly, as if it wasn't hurting her as much as it was him.

Steve faced her again, seeing the sorrow written in her beautiful eyes. "I'm sorry… no." The whisper was all he could manage, and it felt like his heart was tearing in two.

Tears had formed in the corners of Catherine's eyes, but she blinked them away, smiling through her pain. "I should have known the first time I saw you with Danny that any dream I had… was just that."

Steve took his hand back and wrapped her in a hug, speaking over her shoulder quietly. "I never meant for any of this to happen." Saying he'd never promised her anything wouldn't help now. "Can you forgive me?"

"You know I'd forgive you anything." Cath's voice was tight with held-back emotion as she pulled away to look at him. "The truth is _you_ never lied to me; _I_ lied to myself. I guess I wanted to believe what Doris said… but deep inside, I _knew_ that you and Danny… just fit together, like you and I never quite did. The way you and Freddie did. I could see how hard it was for you when Freddie ended it, no matter how much you tried to hide it."

Steve looked away from her honest expression, the raw edges of his feelings for Freddie scraped wide open. He'd completely underestimated how much she'd understood back then.

"And you were on reasonable terms with Freddie when he… died; but I know how much it cost you to push the pain away so you _could_ be friends, so what I almost did to you this week… it's worse than anything you think you did to me."

"No, Cath, no." Steve frowned, still looking down. "You didn't do anything wrong. You have every right to expect more from someone you… are close to."

"I always knew your heart wasn't in it, if I'm honest with myself. You've done me a favor, really: making me see reality. I'll… get past it; it's not as bad as what Freddie put _you_ though."

"I don't know how someone hasn't snapped you up." Steve genuinely meant it.

" _You_ can be pretty off-putting." The strength of Catherine's spirit shone through in her smile.

"If they think I'm going to stop looking out for you now…"

"I can fight my own battles, Commander."

"I know you can."

Steve let a relieved breath out slowly. They would be okay. Now if he could just say the same about Danny.

His plan had to work.

~//~


End file.
